Maybe I’m thinking of a different species, but the pear on hawthorn I’ve seen all had dramatic size differences at the graft union? Like the pear was six inches in diameter and the hawthorn was maybe four.
Aronia and cotoneaster are both dwarfing and pear compatible. We have a thread or two about both, with mixed results. My guerilla grafted pear on cotoneaster was either removed by people or deer. Probably the latter. The one on Aronia is still doing OK.
I believe a nurse branch left on the graft will prevent this from being so dramatic. But either way it’s a short lived tree (compared to a own roots pear especially)
I wonder what rootstock they use when producing trees in mass for the box stores, like Lowes.
I ran a search through AI and it told me that in Texas they most likely use Calleryana, which would be good news for me
back to the question about hawthorn for european/asian pears and medlars, is there a specific species that does best here(z5ab iowa)? perhaps Washington Hawthorn(crataegus phaenopyrum)?
im marking a bunch of wild mountain ash seedlings for grafting to pear next spring. i have about 20 in the yard that are just the right size. i researched it and found out itsactually rated as good rootstock for pear with a average life of 30-40 years. i always thought they were a short lived tree but i guess that isnt the case. its also a very forgiving rootstock and tolerates wet soil well. no disease issues either. suprised more people dont use them over others. mine started fruiting last year, 2 years after grafting. the tree grew from seed to 6ft in 3 years. its about 8ft. with nothing but pear wood on it now. my ivans bell hybrid mtn. ash is on european mtn. ash rootstock and its even more vigorous with 4 pear varieties on it as well.
I might see my Cabot flower next year from a graft I did 4 years ago. Fingers crossed.
I have looked at many Southeast coastal plain trees compatible with pears and there are many.
Unfortunately most have very bushy habits.
When I read this, I think of a dark haired guy with bushy eyebrows looking furtively each way, then doing something illegal like spitting on the sidewalk.
